How to bet the Angels Flight Stakes

An excellent cast of nine three-year-old fillies will travel 6 1/2 panels down the Hillside Turf Course at Santa Anita on Sunday in the $100,000 Angels Flight S. Here is how I expect the race to unfold.

Angels Flight Wagers

• $15 win and place #7 Laulne ($30)
• $5 trifecta key 7 with 3,6,8 ($30)

#2 Rascality won in wire-to-wire fashion in her first try on the lawn and will be sent by Mike Smith, as will recent maiden heroine #4 Avoir, and Doug O’Neill’s #9 Girl of My Dreams. Going with that trio in the early stages will also be #5 Invincible Molly for Jeff Mullins, as the import had always been prominent overseas and was forwardly placed despite a poor break in her U. S. debut, too. 

With the expectation of a swift early pace established by runners that are not among the most talented in the field in my estimation, I will look for off-the-pace types for my wagers. Leading the way is Group 3 heroine #7 Laulne for conditioner Phil D’Amato. By Starspangledbanner, the sophomore brought a hefty sum exceeding $793,000 at ‘The Arc’ Sale at Arqana in September which was the second highest-priced horse that passed through the ring. 

The filly had a fine juvenile campaign in France while compiling a 6-3-1-2 mark, and she concluded 2023 with an unplaced showing in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) in her route debut. She has posted eight morning drills without a gap in advance of Sunday, and if she can duplicate some of her closing runs that she put forth overseas, then she will be difficult to fend off late in her three-year-old bow. Antonio Fresu has the call. 

For the vertical exotics, I will put Mandella’s improving #3 Alluring and Grade 3 vixen #6 Zona Verde, who has finished second in the Sweet Life S. and China Doll S. in her last two outings, as well as Sweet Life starlet #8 Antifona, who was third going longer in the China Doll last time out for conditioner John Sadler, underneath the top selection.